Kelly Bensimon

As we all know, Bethenny Frankel has chosen to retire from the Real Housewives of New York. And we all know about her retirement because she has announced said retirement publicly and loudly, in a manner designed to garner the most publicity for her “upcoming projects” as possible. So, pretty on-brand for B.

Some of us are mourning the loss of the biggest B in New York. Some of us are probably relieved to never have to see a Skinnygirl-branded product or Skinnygirl-themed party on our screens again. Of course, her fellow cast-members are eager to use Bethenny’s departure to get social media traffic tell us how they feel about Bethenny’s retirement.

We’ve recently seen Brandi pop up on an episode where she shared good times with Denise Richards. I’m still trying to root for you, Denise! But Brandi’s motives are clear. She wants us to know she is great pals with newbie Denise. #cheersbitch Now we know there is a vacancy on the show. A big gap needs to be filled. So is Brandi shooting her shot while shooting her mouth off, again? Now she is revealing the “truth” about her failures bad luck. I’ll give you one guess on who Brandi blames for her downfall…

Say what you will about Real Housewives of New Yorkalum Jill Zarin, but you must admire her persistence. In 2011, Jill was fired from the show along with Kelly Bensimon and Alex McCord. Since then, Jill has been on a quest recapture her Housewife apple. She has made cameo appearances on the show but hasn’t been offered a contract as a full-time Housewife or a Friend of the Housewives.

Jill has dealt with some serious heartache in her personal life. In January of 2018, her beloved husband, and popular fixture on RHONY, Bobby Zarin, passed away after a courageous battle with brain cancer. Bravo cameras rolled outside Bobby’s funeral as Jill and former bestie Bethenny Frankel put aside their differences and seemingly made peace. Of course, many thought that filming at her husband’s funeral was in poor taste. And now, Jill has found love again with Gary Brody.

A past New York Housewife we have not heard much from lately is Kelly Bensimon, she of the meandering conversation and the confusing Kelly speak. Although she popped up for a few guest appearances on New York after Bravo’s major casting reboot after Season 4, Kelly has not been on the show in several years. She is now sharing an update on what she has been doing-and hinting that she might be ready to rejoin the reality television world!

It felt like there were Real Housewives meetups happening all over the country this week. Or at least that’s what it seemed like when I scroll through my Instagram feed. Kandi Burruss supported Beverly Hills Housewife Erika Jayne at her Atlanta concert. Potomac Housewives Gizelle Bryant hung out with Real Housewives of Atlanta OG NeNe Leakes. Warning: they applied way too much airbrush to their IG photo. Cynthia Bailey left the ATL to hang out with Dorinda Medley in New York City.

Real Housewives of Dallas stars Stephanie Hollman and Brandi Redmond shared photos hanging with their kids. Meanwhile, their costar Cary Deuber shared a photo of her face all marked up and ready for a cosmetic procedure. Orange County Housewife Shannon Beadorfollowed her lead. Shannon posted a photo of herself getting some cosmetic enhancements. This is a social media trend that I just don’t understand.

Happy Monday! We’re kicking off this short holiday week with a new roundup of reality star sightings! First up, former Teen Mom OG star Farrah Abraham sampled new menu offerings during expansion construction at Crazy Horse 3 in Las Vegas. Farrah Abraham has landed another MTV reality show with “Ex on the Beach”, for which she is reportedly earning $300,000!